Pasadyn is a throwback to the dark ages of the early 2000s, when teenagers somehow survived without texting and Facebook.
Pasadyn family photo"I think I like to stay busy and stimulated, and going from sport to sport definitely helps me keep doing that," says 16-year-old Brunswick High School star Selena Pasadyn, one of six national finalists for the female High School Heisman to be awarded Saturday. "I want to make my parents, my school, my teammates proud."
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Brunswick distance runner and swimmer Selena Pasadyn has been ahead of her time since she was reading at age 4, beginning second grade at 5, and breaking school sports records as a 12-year-old freshman.
Now a 16-year-old senior, what sets Pasadyn apart isn't her rapid advancement, it's her old-school approach to being a teenager. As a three-sport athlete with a 4.74 grade-point average, she really is on the go.
Friday night, she and her family will be in New York for Heisman Trophy festivities, as one of 12 national finalists for the female High School Heisman. The award is given to male and female student-athletes based on athletic and academic achievement and community involvement. The winners will be announced tonight. They will be recognized Saturday on ESPN during the college football Heisman Trophy presentation.
Like the Heisman itself, Pasadyn is a throwback. She harkens back to the dark ages of the early 2000s, when teenagers somehow survived without texting and Facebook.
"I don't have a Facebook page and don't have texting," she said.
Pasadyn doesn't have the time. When the need arises to tell friends something, she actually talks to them. When she does have spare time, usually in the summer, she does something even more old-fashioned.
"I like to catch up on my reading," she said. She's talking books, not Tweets.
"The Hunger Games and Harry Potter books for fiction. I liked The River of Doubt, about Teddy Roosevelt and some of his travels, for nonfiction," she said.
• Check out a Plain Dealer feature on the 12-year-old Pasadyn in 2008.
There has been no doubt about Pasadyn's torrent of success in the classroom and athletic arena for Brunswick High, even though she always has been at least two years younger than her peers.
Pasadyn, who has an October birthday, got a jump on school from the start. Because she learned to read early, she began kindergarten as a 4-year-old and quickly was promoted to the first grade. So, she was 5 when she began second grade.
"I always felt like I was stimulated academically, and since I wasn't faltering there, I wasn't concerned about the other aspects," she said. "I've been making some great friends with my fellow peers and I really don't have any regrets or doubts."
Her father, Leon, said it was natural to second-guess the decisions he and his wife, Jeannine, made as Selena entered middle school at 9 and high school at 12. Selena adjusted academically and socially each year.
"Every step of the way, she succeeded," he said.
Selena said she has never received a B. Her course load this fall includes advance-placement chemistry, AP literature, AP European history, AP environmental science and honors physics. Advanced-placement classes are worth additional points toward a grade-point average, thus she has earned a 4.74 GPA on a 4.0 scale.
Pasadyn family photo"I'm not sure I've ever coached anybody that knows herself so well," says Brunswick cross-country coach Kerry Hunter of Selena Pasadyn, "and knows what it takes to be good."
On the four AP course tests she has taken thus far, she received perfect 5s. Her ACT college entrance score was a 33 out of 36. An average score is about 21. For college, she is choosing among Case Western Reserve, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Washington University in St. Louis and Yale, and she plans to purse a career in medicine while continuing to run cross country and track.
Being a 16-year-old freshman next fall will be another big step for Selena, who at 5-2 and under 100 pounds with long brown hair, looks even younger.
"I don't have any fear she'll be able to handle college academically," Jeannine Pasadyn said. "My fear is, will she be able to handle college at 16? She's not worldly, but she doesn't party it up, and she's always made wise decisions."
Selena recently took a recruiting trip by herself to Columbia in New York City, flying for only the second time in her life. When flight attendants learned she was a minor traveling alone, they introduced her to the pilot as if she were a kid, which she is. What they didn't know was that she was on an NCAA recruiting visit and, if given a few lessons, probably could learn to fly the plane home.
This fall, she helped lead Brunswick's cross-country team to the Division I state championship. She owns school records in cross country (18:15), track records in the 1,600-meter run (5:03) and 3,200 (11:00), and swimming records in the 500 freestyle (5:24) and 200 individual medley (2:18). She is a captain of each team.
She first broke the Brunswick cross country record when she was a 4-foot-8 freshman, and was the youngest high school athlete in Ohio anyone could ever recall.
Her community involvement includes volunteering at Medina General Hospital, where her father is a registered nurse. She is an altar server at Our Lady of Grace Church in Hinkley and teaches vacation bible school. Selena makes it all look so easy, but it's not.
"Not every day is happy and great," said Jeannine. "Her schedule is very rigorous. I couldn't do what she does.
"She has this innate drive. She sets goals and doesn't stop."
Selena has learned to set aside down time to play with her three younger sisters, or to watch her favorite TV shows, "The Office" and "Parks and Recreation." She said competing in cross country in the fall, swimming in the winter and track in the spring doesn't wear her down, but keeps her fresh.
"I think I like to stay busy and stimulated, and going from sport to sport definitely helps me keep doing that. Each is a totally different exercise and having that alternating is beneficial for cross training," she said. "I want to make my parents, my school, my teammates proud. That's additional motivation, as well."
Speaking to Pasadyn can be like conversing with a college professor. It's obvious she's well read. She talks in thoughtful, self-aware paragraphs. More than a few people have asked her if she's interested in politics.
Her self-awareness translates to sports as well. Cross-country coach Kerry Hunter remarked that not only is Pasadyn an extremely hard worker and well prepared for every practice and meet, but "I'm not sure I've ever coached anybody that knows herself so well and knows what it takes to be good."
One area Selena will have to catch up on quickly are the sports stars she'll be rubbing shoulders with in New York. Of the five college football Heisman Trophy finalists, she's familiar with one.
"Andrew Luck is one of the favorites and he's from Stanford, and I find that very respectable," she said. Luck is also the son of former Clevelander Oliver Luck, who played at St. Ignatius, which is a block from the birthplace of John Heisman.
"Good," she said. "We'll have some things to talk about."
Chances are, Luck will get an education.
On Twitter: @TimsTakePD